Can we present scripture according to our understanding?
So can we come up with our own ideas about how to present things or how to explain things and even if such things are not there directly in shastra such answer see not only can we do it but we all need to do it because that is how the tradition stays living so if i am working in a software setting softwares of field it's easily relatable for people so what keeps the tradition living is the capacity of the practitioners of the tradition to to explain it in contemporary terms so that's why innovative forms of presentation and innovative and forms of explanation are needed Prabhupada translated yajna or rather what do we do yajna he says by this we are giving tax to the universal government now this concept of tax is quite innovative in a sense presentation Prabhupada has done like that many times so some people may say only acharyas can do it but then that is true while it is also true that we are all we all have to do our part in preaching in sharing Krishna's message and if we are making anything coming up with some presentation or explanation that is that is that is contradictory to anything in scripture any principle or any analysis of scripture or any message of scripture then that is debatable that we should hesitate and we should definitely consult consult senior devotees but otherwise we do need to come up with contemporary explanations contemporary presentations and initial years it is good to just repeat what we have heard but Prabhupada also said that realization is to present things in a way that is appealing it is interesting to people and what does it mean to that it is interesting to people that means it is explained one explanation is that it is explained in terms of what interests them that's what that they already something interesting to them and if I explain things in terms of what is interesting to them then that I make it interesting that's a realization so so we they can and should do that but especially if you are making something major always consult senior devotees about it and that way creativity and imagination are precious assets on the path of bhakti imagination not in the sense of speculation or deviation but imagination in the sense of using the gaurdian capacity for creativity in Krishna's service just like a devotee if a devotee pointer is there and they are making a picture of painting of Krishna and Vrindavan the scripture doesn't give all the details only you know exact which trees where and what are what are the what kind of leaves are there what kind of flowers are there so the painter has to use their imagination and without if the painter decides I'll stick only to the literal word of scripture no painting can be drawn because we need more details over there so now they can consult senior devotees they can consult check with scripture and then they can use their imagination in the service of Krishna so like that we can also use our creativity in Krishna's service and that is actually a very essential way in which we can make the presentation of Krishna appealing so where what what explanation or what presentation we give if it starts becoming contrary to anything directly taught in scripture then it becomes a problem so as long as it is furthering the essential message of scripture making it more intelligible and appealing to people it's perfectly okay and it is good if we can have association of like-minded people because with association of such people we will be able to have free exchange of ideas because sometimes some people will be very critical and they will just reject what we are saying and some people it's very good it's very good but those who are also into that field they will be able to assess again this is makes sense this is a little excessive this is brilliant so we will get candid feedback so actually if we are going into a field where this we are doing this kind of creative things it's good to find out some other people also doing that thing and share with them that way we will not only stay on track but we also stay encouraged on that track.